Here's a controversial one for you today: GTA Online is dead. Let me explain why.
I know what you're thinking: "how dare you say this about GTA Online, you know nothing," but let me explain where I'm coming from when talking about GTA Online being dead. I know there are some solid arguments against it, but there are also some solid arguments for it being dead... or at least being on the road to being dead.
GTA Online Is Dead, Here's Why
GTA Hype Is Dying Out
GTA 5 has been out for 9 years and while it (more specifically GTA Online) still has a huge player base (currently 130K viewers on Twitch) and already received a get a next-gen upgrade, much has happened in the world of GTA that made many turn their backs to the franchise.
- GTA 6 still hasn't been properly announced and people are losing their patience
- The GTA Trilogy Remaster flopped hard
- GTA 5 dropped from 300K viewers to 100-180K viewers
The GTA 6 argument, you will agree with me, you just have to. The daily leaks and uncertainty is just too much at this point.
That the GTA Trilogy Remaster sucked has been reported numerous times and if you've played it yourself, you will know what I'm talking about.
The last point is the only one I would be okay to argue about because in March 2019, GTA 5/GTA Online had a viewership on Twitch of merely 20K. It was only when the pandemic was in full motion, early 2021, that it garnered a huge number of players because suddenly, everyone realized the potential the game had... the role play potential.
And honestly, early on in 2021, it was massive. So many big streamers started playing it (next argument on that in a second), but what's currently happening is that the big streamers aren't playing it anymore and rather so many small streamers all over the world are. Hence, the number is still incredibly high.
There can be two streamers with 50K viewers and the number would already be up to 100K viewers, but with GTA Online it's the other way around. It's often "smaller" streamers with 5K or lower viewers that then just push up that final number.
What happened to the big GTA Online streamers? Where are they now?
More and More Streamers Retire From GTA Online
Like I said, early 2021, everyone was playing GTA Online and I really mean everyone. Streamers like xQc or Fuslie were in the midst of it all, but there came a point where it was all just too much. People took these GTA roleplays way too far. Many have retired fully, while others have taken months-long breaks to get back in the game... which is real life.
Over the next couple of months, we will see a steep decline in numbers here... because it's just not as fun anymore as it was in the beginning. The pandemic is (sort of) over and life is back to the way it was, leaving GTA Online behind.
GTA Online Doesn't Have Enough New Content
Red Dead Redemption Online suffers from the same problem, though it's even worse for the fans of that franchise. GTA Online has received some gameplay updates that brought something new and fresh to the routine, but it's not nearly enough for people to be playing this game every day.
There just comes a time when nothing new can be discovered and doing the same things every day – even with your friends – gets boring.
Say what you want about GTA Online not being dead or being dead right now, but one thing's for certain... it will soon be most definitely dead if Rockstar doesn't pay a lot more attention to it and if they don't take proper care of their fanbase.